Oh the humanity of it all
To make a short story long I was chatting it up with the bus driver who drove my students from the career tech center to the main school. When he found out I boom'chucked a guitar he invited me to join him and his wife's dulcimer group. He gave me a date and location. What I walked into was a performance of their group at a nursing home. Never playing old timey / bluegrass before I had to stare sort of buggy-eye at the lady in the front row who had the sheet music to catch the chords. Once I learned the songs I found, especially with those minor chord tunes that they were having more fun then me. Ok, so I sort of fell into playing dulcimer. Loved the music and especially the jamming but it conflicted with my other hobby. . .motorcycling. Once I got my big dulcimer the first thing I did was to run it out to the bike to see if there was anyway it'd fit. . . the dulcimer covered 90% of the poor Yamaha. I could see either strapping it big side up on my back and look like an angel or strapping it big side down and looking like an F14. No go. It didn't help with our illustrious web lackey suggesting I bungie it to my handlebars then squeeze a practice in while biking it up to his place this summer. I also thought of a small trailer but the thought of my $1,600 dulcimer bouncing around didn't appeal to me. It was many times at festivals, workshops or performances I'd have to park way out in the boonies then carry the beastie to the gig. The dern thing was just long enough to drag on the ground if you didn't lift it slightly. Many was the time I looked at it after carting it around for two or three blocks and growl, "Fer two cents I'd trade you in on a piccolo." Time for a change.
Having a bit of luck performing at a wedding I have a few hundred bucks to shop for a mandolin. Now comes the fun part of shopping for the best one I can get for $300. I'll let you know what I've found so far.
Elderlys is only an hour away and features Kentucky, a Chinese brand. The instruments are good except for certain batches that are screwed up. The cool thing is that Elderlys sets the things up so if there is anything bad they send the whole batch back. Pisses off the importer but nobody messes with Elderlys' reputation. If somehow something comes at me that's cheaper with better quality I'll look into it but so far it looks like the Kentucky is the best bet. Any suggestions?
- James Rathbun's blog
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United States
March 23, 2006
Hey Jim,
I went through the mondolin selection process earlier this year and ended up with a Gibson A1 that I cherish. The whole saga is pretty well documented here: http://www.folkjam.org/forum/topic/mando-advice.
I was looking for a second primary instrument and had a little money set aside, so the price range was a little higher but in the course of searching for my preferences I examined many, many instruments. I started by looking at Eastman mandos and if they have one close to your price range I would highly recommend them as a quality import. I also liked the Michael Kellys and I know they have some in the low to mid price range. Thirdly, Fender makes some really good sounding mandos in the $300 - $500 range, IMO.
The only import that I read you should really stay away from (although never one played myself) is the Morgan Monroe. I read about many problems with setting the mando up and then having constant structural problems with it. They may still be getting the kinks out (or may have in the past few months), but I would double check the quality on that make and definitely beware of an e-Bay buy.
-Shawn
Play Well.